TEAMING EARLY AND OFTEN


Scrum team members meet every morning to track changes required to sustain critical RCAS integrated software applications. This intensive collaboration ensures accurate and quick deployment of RCAS software releases. Clockwise from center are Rocky Rawat, personnel support product manager; Prabhakar Kanapala, enterprise team scrum master; Bill Deller, database engineer; Vilmalka Riveros, enterprise team business analyst; and David Lee and Dan Steffan, software engineers. (Photo by Jim N. Cook, PD RCAS SSD)


and high-level requirements, with just enough detail to begin working rather than waiting until every detail is avail- able, as with the waterfall methodology. Ten the developers test the software and document rapid, high-quality solu- tions to meet the Soldiers’ requirements in short two-week “sprints.”


One or more of these sprints results in a releasable product solution that PD RCAS can either deploy independently or combine with other sprint product solu- tions to deploy as a formal, larger release. During the sprint’s two-week cycle, stake- holders have the opportunity to review and comment on the software. If changes are necessary early in the cycle, the scrum


team implements those changes before the final release.


Making changes early in the release reduces cost as well as the risk of not meeting requirements or schedules. As a result of their early and frequent involve- ment, Soldiers can be confident of the quality of the RCAS software and that it meets or exceeds their expectations.


Ultimately, RCAS processes seek to sustain and deliver high-quality software faster than in the past. PD RCAS has delivered 13 software releases to its stakeholders in 2014, triple the number of releases deliv- ered under the waterfall methodology over the same time frame.


CRITICAL TOOLS Te successful transition to the Agile software development methodology from the waterfall method was completed within about six months. Leveraging available technology, RCAS selected VERSIONOne, an all-in-one Agile man- agement tool. VERSIONOne provides a single, user-friendly system for planning and tracking all of the “epics” (ongoing implementation initiatives), sprints, user stories, defects, tasks, tests and issues. VERSIONOne helps guide scrum team members through each step of the Agile development process, from product and release planning to sprint planning, tracking new functionality and defects, and final product review.


ASC.ARMY.MIL 31


ACQUISITION


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